Cedric Ceballos scored 11 of his 15 first-half points in the
opening quarter as the Dallas Mavericks won their fifth straight
game against the Los Angeles Clippers, 119-106, and spoiled the
debut of interim coach Jim Todd.

Todd, an assistant with Los Angeles since 1998, took over
Thursday when coach Chris Ford was dismissed following an 11-34
start. The change made little difference as the Clippers fell
for the 13th time in 14 games.

"Tonight we wanted to implement new things," Todd said. "The
one major concern was the tempo. Sometimes it works and
sometimes it doesn't. But if we continue to play hard and
aggressive we are going to have better days."

Ceballos scored four points during an 8-0 run as Dallas gained a
16-8 lead with 5:58 left. The Mavs closed the period with a
10-4 spurt, including a 3-pointer by Ceballos, for a 30-22
advantage.

Ceballos contributed a field goal during a 7-0 run that closed
the half as Dallas took a 67-51 lead into the break. He made
5-of-8 field goals and all four free throw attempts over the
first 24 minutes as the Mavericks won for the sixth time in
seven games.

"We've been trying to figure out what keeps us going," Ceballos
said. "We put ourselves in a position to win. We just matched
the Clippers energy tonight."

Dirk Nowitzki added 13 points in the half for Dallas, which shot
55 percent (22-of-40) from the floor, 94 percent (17-of-18) from
the line and 6-of-11 from 3-point range.

Erick Strickland scored 24 points, Nowitzki finished with 20 and
Michael Finley had 19, 10 rebounds and nine assists as the
Mavericks won their fourth road game in five attempts. Finley
fell just shy of his fourth triple-double of the season and
fifth career.

"We played well, we knew we had to keep it up and we did,"
Dallas coach Don Nelson said. "We're doing very well even
though we're not establishing an inside game."

Honolulu attending parties around the NFL's Pro Bowl for which
he was to receive appearance fees. It is unknown when the
flamboyant forward will join the club.

Maurice Taylor scored 17 points and rookie Lamar Odom added 14
for the Clippers, who have not defeated Dallas since March 29,
1998. They shot 42 percent (22-of-52) from the field and
2-of-10 from beyond the arc in the first half.

"We were just trying to get everybody to run up and down until
we were tired," Tyrone Nesby said of Todd's game plan. "I think
it was a good flow, but we got to be in better shape."

"It's a little more freelance on offense," Odom said. "It's a
little more of the up-tempo game we like to play."

The Mavericks, who gained their biggest lead at 101-74 early in
the fourth quarter, shot 49 percent (40-of-81) from the floor
and 50 percent (10-of-20) from 3-point range.

Nesby threw his jersey into the crowd with 3:28 to play after
getting ejected.